42nd Infantry Division has a new general
New York Army National Guard’s newest general serves as the deputy commander of the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division, headquartered in Troy.
Christopher Cronin, of Victor, Ontario County, an Afghanistan war veteran, has been promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony in Rochester. Maj. Gen. Thomas Spencer, division commander, presided over the promotion ceremony.
Cronin was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant upon graduation from Syracuse University in 1993. He previously served as the New York National Guard Joint Force Headquarters chief of the joint staff. He formerly served as the Rear Detachment commander for the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters during the division’s 2020 deployment to the Middle East.
Cronin served as the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Brigade commander from 2017 to 2019, leading units that deployed to Australia, Ukraine, Korea, France, Belgium and the Dominican Republic in support of training and strategic missions. He also served as the commander of 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment from 2013 to 2017.
He also had served a threeyear tour with the Counter Drug Task Force. He was also assigned briefly to the Army Reserve’s 98th Division (Institutional Training) where he served as the force protection/ anti-terrorism officer, physical security officer, and operations and plans officer. Cronin deployed to Khowst, Afghanistan
in 2007 and 2008 as he served as the operations officer for an embedded tactical training team, supporting the Afghan National Army’s 1st Brigade of the 203rd Corps and later as an Infantry Kandak (Battalion) team chief for the Afghan 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade of the 203rd Corps.
He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College. He is a retired FBI supervisory special agent and now works at Wegmans Food Markets in Rochester.
His 42nd Infantry Division has 20,000 soldiers assigned to elements in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey
and New Hampshire. The division provides training oversight for the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 197th Fires Brigade, 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and the 369th Sustainment Brigade.
New Marine colonel
Keith Richardson of Clifton Park has been promoted to Marine colonel while on duty at Quantico, Va. Richardson, a New Brunswick, N.J. native attended Shenendehowa High School and graduated from St. Aloysius Senior School in Australia.
He earned a bachelor of art in economics and a master of business administration from Albany State University. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1996. Richardson was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from Officer Candidate School.
Richardson deployed to Iraq in 2003, and Afghanistan 2004, 2009-2010, 2012, 2018-2019 and Okinawa 2022 to 2023. He earned a Bronze Star Medal, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and two Combat Action Ribbons.
New sergeant 1st class
Gregory Hafensteiner of Niskayuna has been promoted to sergeant first class in the New York Army National Guard during a ceremony at New York National Guard Headquarters in Latham. Hafensteiner, a Joint Forces soldier serves as an enlisted aid to the Maj. Gen. Michele Natali, the New York National Guard’s assistant adjutant general. He had served in the Marine Corps from 1996 to 2001. He enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 2016 and since 2018 he has served as a full-time National Guard soldier.
Hafensteiner has served as a unit administrator, an allsource intelligence analyst, a human resources noncommissioned officer, and a human resources systems noncommissioned officer in the Army National Guard. While on duty in the Marine Corps, he served as an electronic counter measures technician. In 2020 he deployed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as an intelligence analyst with the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division. The division served as the headquarters for the 10,000member Task Force Spartan Shield, the term for Army forces deployed to the Middle East.
He has earned an Army Commendation Medal and multiple Army Achievement Medals.
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